Interview with Lino Gómez and David Dubo

Lino Gómez feito is coach of the Spanish Federation of Karate, best known for his work with the Spanish women’s team who have been world champions, and took five second places this means that we have been in the World Champioschips final the last 12 years, and one third in the World Cup, and two University Championships and eight European titles, the last 5 in a row.

His club participants in various age categories in the Spanish club championship 2011, In the senior class competedt the Chilean world champion (2008 in Tokyo) David Dubos who has a long relationship with Linos club. I had the opportunity to interview Lino Gómez and David Dubo.

About his impression of this year’s club championship Lino said. “I love the championship, the impression was good, many teams in all categories and a generally high level”.

What happened to your teams? “My junior cadets took the bronze, the seniors did a great championship, they lost the bronze medal however, the match ended with the same number of wins, but they lost by less points.”

How is it that the Chilean David Dubo compete with your team in the Spanish club championships? “David’s relationship with my club started 5 years ago, since then he has spent long periods of training with his and coach Alvaro Rivera in Oviedo. He has always competed with my club of his own request, in the beginning knew almost no one who he was, but of course after he becomes world champion in Tokyo in 2008, everything changed. He is part of my club, his teammates love him, and one day I will tell the whole story.”

Dubo, Lino and Alvaro

What is the growth and interest in Spanish karate? “Of course there is growth, in the last European Championship was our cadets and junior high on the medal table, now it’s a matter of patience and that those promises come true, it is my mission to help them along the way.”

Lino became responsible in 1997 for women national team and in 2010 for the male national team. What is the difference between being responsible for the ladies, and now both the male and female national team? “There is a difference because everything now is duplicated, the work and responsibilities. Women’s team has been my responsibility for 14 years and I have perfectly captured the pace and amount of training before each competition, when it comes to the men’s national team, we train, and are trying to find our place before time runs out , as the next European Championships are at home and we are all aware that we cannot fail. ”

How are the generational change and the selection for the next World Championship in Paris? “As I said, we are trying to find our form, and European Championships on the domestic plane in Tenerife is the first real test, we have a lot of data to form the squad for the World Championship, which should not be much different than in the European Championship.”

There has been a lot of success of the women’s team on the World and European level. Why have the Spanish women’s team been a world power in karate for so many years? “No doubt because we are a group that operates in the same direction, the team has been renewed, with a winning spirit and commitment that gradually seeps down from generation to generation. The team has always won over individuality, we have done poorly individually in the championship but we have always managed to get good results in team.

European Championships team 2011

There have been many changes in rules and a new change is coming, what is your impression of the new rules in kumite, which has been proposed?
“The new rules are a must, you cannot win a game without scoring points, the question is the penalties for contact alerts, and all judges cannot handle this correctly. It is also often difficult to tell who is holding who, this creates confusion and frustration, imagine a football game where a red card will cost you a goal. ”

And finally, you see karate as an Olympic sport? “Despite the latest disappointment, the whole worlds karate practitioners have the same vision, karate is a sport of integration, there is no village in the world no matter how small that is not practicing karate, dojos exist on five continents, they encourage all kinds of values ​​and is practiced by millions of people of all ages, in the end you cannot hide the sun with a finger and the Olympic movement has finally open the door. ”

David Israel Dubo Firmani said about his collaboration with Lino? Lino Sensei has helped me to become the athlete I am today. He has contributed a network of people, for example, Sensei Kohata and I have become a part of Gensei Ryu family, which is in line for a humble, nice and very basic approach to techniques, which I and Sensei Alvaro enjoy.

What impression did you get from the Spanish club championships? It was a very enriching experience for my development because I get to wear Sensei Lino club clothing, this means not only tremendous pride but also a great responsibility. It feels good to be in the same team as the champion Oscar Vasquez and some of the Spanish masters, and be part of this team is like the story of “The Ugly Duckling” I went from being an unknown Chileans, to be a Part of the team, a friend to others, and loved by the Spanish Family …

What distinguishes Spanish karate from Chilean? Essentially the difference lies in what karate training is, technical quality required of students is the key factor that leads to knowledge so that the athlete reaches higher with a much higher technical quality than in Chile. Add to this a greater frequency of high level competitions, organized by the Spanish Federation of Karate, which means that competitors are constantly training to maximize their attributes.

What is your next goal in karate? Revisit in September to Oviedo, under the wing of Sensei Lino, since the Golden League in Germany, and after that the Pan American Games in October as the games are just as the Mediterranean Games in Europe, then we train with Sensei Alvaro World Cup in France in 2012 as we have strong focus on.